This invention relates generally to implantable tissue stimulators such as heart pacemakers and, more particularly, to telemetry apparatus and methods for use in transmitting information from such implantable tissue stimulators.
Implantable tissue stimulators of this general kind are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and the need has arisen to transmit, within a reasonable amount of time, increased amounts of data from the stimulator to an external receiver. In the case of a heart pacemaker, for example, it is desired to transmit data representing the real time electrocardiogram (ECG) signal from one or more chambers of the heart, both individually and simultaneously, and in addition to transmit other data accumulated over time in an internal memory. Transmitting all of this data requires a high data rate, on the order of at least about 8,000 bits per second.
Prior telemetry apparatus used in implantable tissue stimulators of this general kind have not been fully adapted to transmit such large amounts of data within a reasonable amount of time. For a multitude of technical reasons, such telemetry apparatus generally have been incapable of transmitting data at the required bit rate.
It should therefore be appreciated that there is a need for an improved telemetry apparatus and related method for transmitting large quantities of data from an implantable tissue simulator such as a heart pacemaker within a reasonable amount of time. The present invention fulfills this need.